Nivernais Again

12th September, 2013 (Sally)

One lazy day followed another as we cruised ever so slowly back along the Nivernais, enjoying the glorious weather and revisiting villages that we have become quite familiar with: Mailly la Ville, Mailly le Chateau, Chatel Sensoir, Chatillon en Bazois, Cerecy la Tour; the names unfortunately are more enticing than the villages as time and the faltering economy have not dealt kindly with them. Shops once so essential to every french village, i.e. boulangeries and boucheries that we have shopped at in the last few years are now closed and there are empty premises in every street. Of course the supermarkets are drawing most of the custom but it is obvious as one travels through rural France that the country is not doing very well. We had hoped to use the time to explore more of the surrounding country on our motorbikes, they have hardly been used all year, but something is sadly amiss with mine and in spite of Tony stripping it down, cleaning everything he can, it still coughs and struggles to get to any speed. We rode them up to Vezelay to visit the magnificent church that is the starting point for many pilgrims on their long walk to Santiago de Compestella, a lovely trip but a worrying ride home with many coughs and splutters. We have decided they will stay aboard until we reach a reputable repair shop. It is a good thing we are not in a hurry as the canal is particularly busy with hire boats. The Germans seem to have discovered the delights of canal travel for they are very prevalent. One interesting delay was caused by someone driving their car into a lock. How they managed to do that is a mystery, and by the time we arrived there the next morning all signs of the mishap had disappeared.

We arrived back at Clamecy a week after leaving to cruise down to Auxerre. It's an interesting port with a long history as the centre of the firewood trade that supplied Paris for over three hundred years. Logs were cut in all the surrounding villages, thrown into the rivers and collected at Clamecy and bound together into cubes measuring a metre square. These then were constructed into rafts 75m long with a small thatched hut on board and floated down the Yonne and then the Seine to Paris. The quantity that was taken from the forests was huge and judging from the piles of firewood outside most houses today there is still plenty of available timber left. After Clamecy it was not far to another favoured stop, Chitry les Mines, where we met up with our old friend Ted Johnson who runs one of the very few chandlerys in France. His sister-in-law has converted part of the old port building into a very basic restaurant, a canvas marquee that has seen better days, mismatched tables and chairs and a very rudimentary menu of steak and chips, beefburger and chips or andouilette [a type of offal sausage] and chips. The dessert menu is a crepe, with sugar, lemon juice, or nutella. I don't know why but she does a great trade, busy every day for lunch and dinner. Well who can complain — at 7€ it's a welcome meal at the end of a days cruising. Part of the attraction may be the totally delightful waitress. She is the daughter of the house and recently won the title of Miss Bourgogne which included in the prize a modelling contract in Hong Kong. She comes home from there to help Mum run the cafe for five months then jets off to the catwalks of Hong Kong. Talk about contrasts in life.

We are often disappointed in the lack of initiative from the French people, part of living in a socialist country Iguess, so when we do see something starting up it is always nice to support them. One such opportunity was not far from Chitry where one of the abandoned lock keepers' cottages has been made into a cute little restaurant-bar. We biked there for Sunday lunch, selected a table in the sun and after a drink indicated we would like to eat. The waitress who must have failed her first semester at charm school and then been expelled told us we had to move to one of the tables already set for lunch, in the shade. No, we said, we'll stay in the sun as the breeze is cool, that is "If you don't mind." She grunted, stomped off and returned with the table setting from one of the shaded tables, dropped it in front of us and with a huge sigh of exasperation flounced off to the kitchen. Her attitude was so bad it was funny and when the next customer did exactly the same as us and got the same reaction I got a fit of giggles. The French lady being given the treatment saw me and we had a good grin together. Needless to say she did not get a tip. Such a shame as wait staff here are usually very good, and friendly.

From Chitry there is a flight of 16 locks that takes one to the top pond at Baye and the start of the downward stretch. Very pretty even though hard work and it is always nice to moor by the two huge lakes that provide the water for both sides of the canal. We took an extra day there and took advantage of the lovely weather to walk around one of the lakes. There is a well marked nature trail that could circumnavigate the 47 hectare lake; we took the lesser trail across the causeway that divides the pair and walked around the 19 hectare one. Lots of birdlife, herons, waterfowl and plenty of notices telling us to watch for kingfishers. Missed those but were rewarded later when they flitted in front of us down the canal stopping on overhanging branches to be admired. It is a popular holiday spot for nature lovers and fishing folk with several of the farms having converted outbuildings into holiday accommodation, so nice to see the old buildings getting a new lease of life. As we came back into the village we were delightfully surprised to see a very smart new renovation which will soon be opening as a restaurant. The tables and umbrellas were already there so a welcome stop for a coffee was made. Hopefully she will survive the winter and be there for the holiday season next year.

Now we are on the downward side and suddenly the weather has changed and it is Autumn. Gold in the leaves of the poplars, brilliant red of the virginia creeper and delicious, ripe blackberries in every hedgegrow. Almost overnight heaters are on and it's soup instead of salad with plans for a boeuf bourguignogne or a cassoulet before too long. At Chatillon en Bazois, our first stop on the downward side, we were joined in the port by a boat similar to Sable which was travelling up the canal. As it arrived we noticed considerable damage to the windows and wheelhouse. They had struck one of the low arched bridges. Interestingly it was the same one we had had a close encounter with on our very first voyage six years ago. However theirs was more 'up close and personal' as the front window was completely smashed and one side window, complete with frame, had been dislodged and disappeared into the canal. It must have been a horrible experience and they were still a bit shaken from it all and wondering how they were going to get all the damage repaired. In the course of conversation they mentioned if only they had a grappling hook they would have tried to recover the window. Lucky for them we were able to lend them one and they set off the next morning by taxi and after a few attempts not only retrieved the frame but also were delighted to find the glass still intact. What a bonus, then a passing boat gave them and the window a lift back to port so it was a good result after a daunting experience. Our grappling hook is now back on board hopefully never to be needed again.

We are now at Decize, the last stop on the Nivernais, on the Loire. The hills and forests of the Morvan are well behind us now, its all ordered fields with the white cattle of the Charolais and barns stocked with huge bales of hay for the winter. Thoughts are turning towards home, beach walks and barbeques are on the agenda.

A Few Days in Provence

15th May, 2013 (Sally)

Welcome to our first 2013 newsletter, and what a different start to our cruising year this has been. As usual we left the sunshine of the Gold Coast expecting the weather would be cool in Europe but temperatures plunging to near freezing and the hint of snow as we arrived at Roanne train station was a trifle extreme. However Sable was as welcoming as always and with the heating turned up, cases unpacked and a trip to the supermarket to restock the cupboards and fridge we were soon settled into our home away from home. We had been met at Charles de Gaulle by Gill who had had a few days in Paris before joining us to cruise but with the daytime temperatures of 5oC we looked for some sunshine and all decided the south of France looked promising so on a misty wet morning we set off in a hire car searching for some warmth. First stop, Lyon, where the normally placid waters of the Saône meets the snow-fed Rhone to continue its way to the Mediterranean, a massive body of fast moving water. At Lyon the Saône was a muddy raging torrent, a result of several huge rainfalls that have caused damage on several of the waterways of France, as we have since found out.

Our first night we spent at Orange, the site of the Roman Theatre which we had visited 13 years ago. A magnificent structure, 2000 years old and still in use as a theatre, it was actually being prepared for a new production while we there. We spent a couple of hours there with a very good audio presentation reliving the experience of 10,000 Roman citizens crowding in to witness the latest productions. Magistrates in the best seats, slaves, prostitutes and foreigners in the worst and everyone else in between. After clambering over the tiers of seats and exploring the tunnels behind I was pleased to say my new knee passed it all with flying colours. Dinner that night in a picturesque town square and a wander home in warm sunlight at 9.00pm convinced us that it was the right decision to have come south.

Next morning we had intended an early start to our travels but that plan was waylaid by the local market. What a delightful way for the ladies to while away an hour or so, stores laden with local produce with fresh strawberries and asparagus featuring on so many stalls. A linen display caught our eye and the stall holder was delighted to make two good sales before she had barely opened. We bought our lunch from the market, tomatoes, fresh off the vine and a kilo of mandarins for 1.50€. Tony eventually prised us away to drag us off through the vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape. Our memories of our last visit were not wonderful, it had been late in the day and nothing was open so it was a delight to walk into a cute friendly village, have a coffee in the square and find of course a nice little wine shop where we could buy a bottle or two.... or was it three. At Avignon we boarded the tourist train for a tour of the town and the remnants of the famous bridge. This saved a lot of walking and left us time for a wander through the massive Palais des Papes before moving on to the Pont du Gard, another 2000 year old structure that is still in amazing condition. It is the tallest Roman aquaduct in the world standing at 48 metres high and was designed to bring water to the city of Nimes. We walked across marvelling at the size of the blocks that were used in the construction, and the symetry of the tiers of triple arches. Will anything we build today still be standing in 2000 years?

We had hoped to find accommodation near the village of Baux but being school holidays the only room we were offered was decidedly sub-standard so on to Arles and another test of the knee with a stone spiral staircase up to the third floor room. Once again it passed and we had enough energy for a wander down the Rhone waterfront visiting sites that Van Gogh painted so many times when he lived here in the latter years of his life, including a stop and a very expensive drink at the cafe that features in two of his paintings. It retains all of the shabby charm and is a great place for a bit of people watching. Arles also has two great Roman structures, a theatre and amphitheatre. The latter is used for bull fights, not our sort of sport but I would go to these as the matadors only have to remove the rosette suspended between the horns of the bull and he lives to fight another day. (Not always so for the matador!) However no bull fights that day so we settled instead for a meal at a resturant recommended by our hotelier. Luckily we arrived early, so early we were sent away for 15 minutes, as the tables filled very quickly and people were turned away before we were even served our main course. Gill and I shared the slow cooked shoulder of lamb which was delicious while Tony opted for the three course set meal.... Why are we not surprised?

High on my bucket list is to eat a Boullibaise at a Mediterranean waterfront cafe, so much so that I have resisted the same dish when served anywhere else, so next day by a circuitous route through lavender fields and olive groves we finally made our way to Cassis, a small fishing village east of Marseille. Highly recommended by friends (thanks Barb and Pete) it lived up to all expectations and after once again taking the recommendation of the hotellier we had a wonderful meal where we all sampled a traditional boullibaise. Big tick. Dining at night in the lingering twilight and wandering home with the sun setting over the fishing fleet leaves special memories. Next morning we watched a small fishing boat selling its catch to the locals, you can't get fresher than that. One whole fish 1.5kg for 14€. And you can't get cheaper than that. We bypassed Marseille and headed west stopping at the small town of Aigues Mortes for lunch and a walk around the ramparts. Aigues Mortes was built in 1240 by Louis IX as a port for France when all other access to the sea was controlled by foreign powers and today it is a town within intact fortification walls. The port is long silted-up and today it makes its money as a tourist spot and also from salt which is taken from the evaporation flats nearby. The white mountains are visible from the top of the walls.

We spent the next night at Sète, another fishing village we had enjoyed on our first year in France and the next morning turned towards home with a planned stop at the Millau Bridge. Such a highlight, our third time across this modern engineering marvel but the sheer scale of it still takes one's breath away. It is the tallest bridge in the world with the central pier being higher than the Eiffel Tower, and graciously curves for 2,460 metres across the Tarn Valley. When completed in 2004 at a cost of 400M€ it took 4 hours off the journey between Paris and Montpellier, but the truly amazing fact was it was completed in 3 years. We spent our usual couple of hours there, a film to watch and various photo opportunities as well as a good coffee stop. Our trip from Millau to home could be completed on the motorway but I did propose a slight detour to the town of Le Puy en Velay, one of the truly spectacular sights in France with three giant structures built on top of towering basalt pillars. One, a huge statue of Notre Dame was cast from 213 cannons captured at Sebastopol; but how did they get it there? There is access up a very steep path but even today I think engineers would be scratching their heads never mind in 1830 before the age of cranes and hydraulic lifts etc. The Chapelle St Michel d'Aiguille sems to grow out of a giant finger of lava rock and once again causes one to wonder at the ingenuity of men in the 10th and 11th centuries when it was built.

Sight seeing over it was time to turn for home and prepare for the start of our cruising. Monday was spent in final purchases, return the car and say goodbye to the few friends still remaining in port, ready for an early start on Tuesday. This is a later start than usual and the countryside is in full spring flush. Charolais cattle, belly deep in grass, crops well advanced and even some hay being harvested. However the heavy rain earlier has caused more than a few problems on the canals. Our plan was to cruise to Dijon to put Gill on a train and wait for Deb and Mark. However it was reported the Canal de Centre was closed due to a bridge being down, that has now been clarified to a breach in a canal wall which has emptied a 7km stretch of canal. It was discovered on the 5th, but with the 8th and 9th both holidays — and why would one start work on a Friday — it appears that the work was eventually started on the 13th and it could be two weeks before it reopens. All this means that we cruised left instead of right as we left the Roanne Canal and took Gill to Decize to catch a train to Paris, before returning and joining the queue of boats waiting. There was also a queue at Decize waiting to cross the Loire which was in full spate, and rumour has it that the Burgundy canal is closed due to too much water again. We have a pleasant berth at Paray le Monial, a couple of good restaurants in town, and Tony's favourite shop, Mr Bricolage, has a sale starting today. Yesterday as we sat in the sun under a shady tree we both thought there was a whole lot worse places to be.